Build your own Simon game!

All components in this Simon game kit are through-hole, making it a great place to start when you're learning to solder. When building this kit, you'll have a chance to solder a 28-pin microprocessor, LEDs, battery clips and more.

After you have successfully assembled the kit, you will have a greater knowledge of through-hole soldering and the tools, techniques, and terminology required to populate your own PCB prototype. You will have a development platform with five outputs (LEDs and buzzer), five inputs (buttons), and serial for debugging. And, of course, you'll have your very own Simon game.

Assembly time varies, but for a true beginner with no soldering experience, the kit can take 20-40 minutes to assemble.

The kit includes an ATmega328 microcontroller than is pre-programmed with the Simon code as well as the STK500 serial bootloader. This serial bootloader will allow you to re-program the Simon game using the Arduino development environment. There isn't direct support under the Arduino IDE, but the Lilypad Arduino w/ ATmega328 selection should allow you to reprogram the board using Arduino. You can also use a standard text editor and WinAVR. The serial port on this board, should you want to change the ATmega328's firmware, requires a male header and an FTDI Basic board, which are not included.

Simon Kit Contents

ATmega328 — pre-programmed with Simon firmware

Buzzer

Two 0.1μF Capacitors

10K Resistor

Four LEDs (blue, yellow, red, green)

Two Slide Switches (one for Power on/off; one for Sound on/off)

Four Battery Clips

Two AA Batteries

Button Pad

Bezel

Four Standoffs and Screws

Assembly Instructions

A soldering iron and wire cutters are the bare minimum tools required. Once assembled, the kit will look like the picture to the right.